Happiest of Holidays to everyone! We have some important news to release. Earlier this week Osmanium Candy Company and Lake Country Candies reached a deal. Osmanium has stopped making and selling our Candy Sunshine / Candy Raisins effective immediately (Lake Country will make theirs). We will continue to produce our other wonderful products; Crackheads, Jitterbeans, Candy Old Fashioned, and a new item early next year! (as well as continue to create new and meaningful items in the future) Soon this Facebook page will change to a general “Osmanium Candy Company” page to highlight all of our products.

The Candy Raisins saga has been one that has captivated us all. It has been full of excruciating effort, happiness, mystery, magic, and a it’s core a sweet Wisconsin tradition that didn’t die. We started this project to fill the void (and unhappiness) that existed, and we did. However instead of thinking of only our company, the point has come to put what is best to preserve the Candy Raisins legacy above all else. Lake Country Candies has done a great job putting a factory together, hiring old NECCO employees, tracking down the correct flavor, and putting in gobs of effort. As a result they have created a product that is true to form in texture, flavor, shape, color, and more. It is most appropriate the Candy Raisins brand be married with such a product. Viva la Raisin!

Half Nuts in Milwaukee reports that a new candy on the scene called Raisin Tops is the real deal. Manufactured by Lake Country Candies, by all accounts and reviews these folks have recreated the taste, texture and look of our beloved Candy Raisins. I’ve not tried them myself, but hope to very soon!Important links:

I know it’s been a while. I’ve been in mourning over the loss of our beloved Candy Raisins.

I do have one bit of news to share. The folks at Half Nuts in West Allis, WI have begun selling something called Candy Sunshine - “Inspired by the Original.” According to their site… “Candy Sunshine was not made from the original recipe for Stark’s Candy Raisins, and will taste differently for everyone.” It certainly doesn’t help that those bastards at NECCO won’t cough up the formula.

I literally just learned of these this evening… Jim, a fan of our site emailed a while ago with this review… “I just returned from shopping at Sendick’s Food store in Milwaukee WI. I purchased an item called “Candy Sunshine”. It was packaged from bulk, without any company ID on it. It’s apparent that someone has tried to develop the Candy Raisins formula, which I would guess is still copyrighted. This product is a good effort, but they have a ways to go. On a scale of 1-10, I would rate it as follows: texture-10; color-9; flavor-7. It was quite pricy, at $4.99 lb. Those in the Milwaukee area might want to try it. “

UPDATE to the UPDATE: After reading comments on Candy Sunshine’s Facebook page, it sounds like these just came out in March, and initial batches were just OK, but subsequent batches are getting better based on customer feedback. Apparently the first ones were a bit too soft (like fresh DOTS) and now they’re putting them through a drying process to give them more of that waxy texture we remember so fondly.

While it appears our battle has been lost, writer Linda Edmondson mentioned us in her recent column in Milwaukee Magazine. It’s not available online, so I scanned it. Click Here to view a jpg of the article.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! The support from readers all over the country has been overwhelming. We just passed the 4000 signature mark, and the 35,000 page view mark on the website in the last day or so.

Also, we’ve received two more emails forwarded by Candy Raisin fans from the NECCO customer service department stating that production is moving to the Massachusetts plant. We’re cautiously optimistic…

Thank you for your correspondence and interest in Necco Candy Raisins. We are going to continue manufacturing this product in our Massachusetts plant.

Two weeks ago we wrote our official SaveTheCandyRaisins.com letter to NECCO asking them to, what else, save the candy raisins. Well, late yesterday we finally received an official response from them. While there is still no word on the fate of candy raisins, we’re on their radar.

Dear Mr. Radke,

We have been monitoring your website closely and have been impressed with how quickly your signatures are climbing. Let us assure you that we are taking every consideration in rendering a decision regarding the continuation of all of the products that have been manufactured in our Wisconsin facility. It was difficult enough to decide to close the Wisconsin facility and we are weighing all our options and the economic sense of relocating products that we do not already make in common. Raisins happen to be in that category.

We expect this decision to be rendered within the next month. We admire you and your petitioners devotion to the product and will certainly keep that in mind. In the mean time, might I suggest that you tip the tide in your favor and eat more raisins. The better sales look, the better the chances……

Loyal reader KB from Plymouth, MN emailed us on 3/31 forwarding the response she received from NECCO customer service. We’re optimistic, but until we get some sort of official word from a muckety muck, I think we just need to keep on getting the word out (and buying raisins to send to our friends and releatives out of the area):

I’ve been a little busy this week and haven’t been able to devote a ton of time to the site, but keep those signatures & comments rolling in, and keep spreading the word. We read every single one of them.

Signer “Chummy” has gone ahead and started a Facebook group. You can access it here, if you have a Facebook account, of course.